A little freaked out and scared by what I read!

[ILgal]

I read a post on there that someone had a friend that had a sleeve and died 2 years after because they went back to "old habits" and their liver/kidneys could not handle it and they died from failure of these organs! What is that about? Does anyone have any knowledge. That is a little scary I must admit!

[MissDeidre]

Much like everything else in this world, you have to balance the benefits of the surgery with the risks. Yes it's possible that there could be complications ... this is surgery ... there are ALWAYS complications with surgery ... and there is always going to be someone with "a friend" that something terrible happened to.

You have to look yourself in the mirror and ask ... "Is the potential for complication scarier than spending the rest of my life unhappy? Am I better off letting my weight limit my life and my happiness or by taking a calculated risk and doing something to better myself?"

[jdavido]

What Dr. Bass told me was 0.25% of people who have the sleeve die. That's a super low number. The other thing you mentioned was that they went back to old habits - I assume that means gorging and eating all kinds of crap. If that's the case ... I'm sure death is possible. After all, your heart and organs aren't really meant to take that much abuse, and I'm sure it put them into a form of shock to get healthy then get thrown right back in to garbage. Hang in there. I have full faith that with the support of your sleever family ... that won't happen to you because you'll never go back to where you were. And if you do ... I live in the same area you do and will hunt you down to give you a good talking to! LOL

[HappyMe]

I would ask your surgeon about the validity of that information too. My surgeon has been very direct about the risks and I haven't heard anything remotely close to what you mentioned. The big risks are blood clots and leaks and those typically happen within the first two weeks.

[cindylutz]

I would ask your surgeon about the validity of that information too. My surgeon has been very direct about the risks and I haven't heard anything remotely close to what you mentioned. The big risks are blood clots and leaks and those typically happen within the first two weeks.

you are here! How did it go?

[HappyMe]

I just pm'd you Postponed until tomorrow!

[Dana]

Of the extensive research I've done I've never heard of that. I agree with Happy Me, most problems occur not long after. I've heard of people stretching it out by over eating. I'm not saying it didn't but its not common. Plus you would think there would be some warning. I would never tell someone to not take into consideration every possibility, its just the possibilities are so much greater, over 99 percent greater, for good things to happen!

[ILgal]

Josh, thanks and thanks for everyone's input. But....when you hear something you have never head before that drastic, it scares the heck out of you! I did go the the local support group last night and that was quite helpful. It seems like everyone I have come in contact with though that has had a band has had many problems. Some who did self pay just cannot afford to have a revision to a sleeve, that is quite sad!

I most certainly will listen to you Josh and Dr. Bass and will make sure I ask him next visit. I promise you will not have to give me a good talking to! The people at the meeting that had seen Dr. Bass had nothing but good things to say, so I was very encouraged. And the topic was right on target for me! S-T-R-E-S-S!!!! Learning how to deal with it so we do not have these 'bad habits" creep back into our lives and learn how to handle. I swear to the almighty that the nurse who was running the meeting must have worked in my office in her past life! LOL!

[cowgirljane]

I have not heard of this "risk" either. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but a person's poor health can definately lead to organ failure. A lady I know from work had gastric bypass. She died in her sleep at age 41 - about 4 years after her surgery - from organ failure. She was a type I diabetic and had become an alcholic. She transferred her food addiction to alcohol. I don't know what her death certificate said, but in a way, it was "related" to the WLS.
This is a case I have personal knowledge of, not something I heard or read online.

I have had a few people very close to me pass away and I was astounded what the death certificates read. My younger sister had breast cancer that spread to her bones. She died as a result of this cancer, her bones were literally disintegrating on her... her heart and lung failed as her spine and rib cage collapsed. Her death certificate read as cardio-pulmonary with breast cancer as a contributing cause. huh??? My mother had vascular dementia, and her cause of death was listed as cardio-pulmonary failure. In both these cases, they had healthy heart and lungs until those diseases caused the problems. I have come to believe that death rates are not calculated accurately if they use death certificate info.

Back to the sleeve, from what I gather the highest risks are within the first week or two of surgery as was already mentioned. For revision patients (like me!) those risks are much higher then the general population, but it is still not too bad. I do know there is a possibility of longer term risks, but I don't remember that part of the discussion very well. All I recall was the risk of strictures - excessive narrowing of stomach. It was a fairly low risk though.